* PARSHA Q&A *
In-Depth Questions on the Parsha and Rashi's commentary.
Parshas Matos/Masei
For the week ending 26 Tammuz 5756
12 & 13 July 5756
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Parsha Questions
Matos
1. What is a neder?
2. Can a person take a neder permitting something that the Torah forbids?
3. Hashem commanded the Jewish People to attack Midian. Why did He not
command them to attack Moav?
4. Why did the men selected to fight against Midian not go willingly?
5. What holy vessels accompanied the Jewish People into battle?
6. What portion of the spoils went to the soldiers who went to war against
Midian?
7. How were Kalev ben Yefune and Osniel ben Kenaz related?
8. In verse 32:16, Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven said, "We will build sheep-
pens here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones." What is
improper about that statement?
9. What promise did the Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuven make beyond that which
Moshe required of them?
10. Which part of the Tribe of Menashe inherited land on the eastern side
of the Jordan?
Masei
1. Why does the Torah list the places where the Jewish People camped in
the midbar?
2. How did Aaron die?
3. Why does the Torah need to specify the boundaries that are to be
inherited by the Jewish People?
4. How much land surrounded the cities of the Levi'im?
5. From whom did a city of refuge shelter a murderer?
6. Who separated the cities of refuge on the eastern side of the Jordan?
7. When did the cities of refuge begin to function as places of refuge for
murderers?
8. Why does the murderer remain in the city of refuge until the death of
the Kohen Gadol?
9. A woman who is married to a man from a different tribe inherits an
ancestral field. What happens to that field?
10. When an ancestral field moves from the possession of one tribe to
another, what happens to it in Yovel?
Bonus QUESTION:
Why did the daughters of Tzlofchad marry their cousins?
I Did Not Know That!
"And they traveled from Yam Suf and they camped in Midbar Sin" (33:11).
In the beginning it was called Sin. Later it was called Sinai. The word
Sin has a numerical value of 120 corresponding to the 120 days Moshe was on
Har Sinai. A "yud" was added to its name to change its name to Sinai.
This "yud" (numerical value =10) corresponded to The Ten Commandments.
Ba'al Haturim
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Recommended Reading List
Matos
Ramban
30:16 Responsibility
31:2,6 Vengeance
31:23 Cleansing Vessels
31:36 Miracle of the Spoils
31:49 Jewish Victory
32:33 Menashe's Inheritance
32:41 Yair's Ancestry
Sforno
31:15 The Meaning of Silence
Masei
Ramban
33:53 The Land
35:14 Cities of Refuge
35:29 The Sanhedrin
Kli Yakar
33:49 The Greater Loss
35:6 Temporary Dweller
Sefer Hachinuch
408 Cities of the Levi'im
409 Capital Judgment
410 Exile
Sforno
33:1 The Merit of the Journeys
36:4 The Inheritance of Daughters
36:12 The Husbands of the Daughters of Tzlofchad
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Answers to this Week's Questions
All references are to the verses and Rashi's commentary, unless otherwise
stated
Matos
1. 30:3 - A restriction a person takes upon himself as a sacred
obligation.
2. 30:3 - No.
3. 31:2 - Because Moav only acted out of fear against the Jewish People.
Also, Ruth was destined to come from Moav.
4. 31:5 - They knew that the death of Moshe would follow the execution of
vengeance upon Midian.
5. 31:6 - The Aron and the Tzitz.
6. 31:27 - Half.
7. 32:12 - They were half-brothers. Kalev's mother married Kenaz and gave
birth to Osniel. (Osniel led the Jewish People after the death of
Yehoshua.)
8. 32:16 - They showed more regard for their property than for their
children.
9. 32:24 - Moshe required them to remain west of the Jordan during the
conquest of the Land. They promised not to return home for an
additional 7 years while the Land was being divided.
10. 32:39-42 - Bnei Machir ben Menashe. They independently conquered part
of the Amorite land, east of the Jordan. Moshe promised them that
land.
Masei
1. 33:1 - To show the love of Hashem for the Jewish People. Although it
was decreed that they wander in the desert, they did not travel
continuously. During the span of the 38 years they moved only 20
times.
2. 33:38 - By "Divine kiss."
3. 34:2 - Because there are certain mitzvos that apply in the Land, but
not outside of the Land.
4. 35:4 - 2,000 amos. The inner 1,000 was the "migrash" (an open area of
land which served to beautify the city), and the outer 1,000 was for
their fields and vineyards.
5. 35:12 - From the go'el hadam (avenger of blood), a close relative of
the deceased who had the right to avenge the victim's death.
6. 35:13 - Moshe.
7. 35:13 - After Yehoshua separated three cities on the western side of
the Jordan.
8. 35:25 - Because the Kohen Gadol causes the shechina to dwell in Israel
and prolongs life, and the murderer causes the shechina to be removed
from Israel and shortened life. The murderer is not worthy to stand in
the vicinity of the Kohen Gadol.
9. 36:3 - When she has a son, the son will inherit the field and the field
will move from the possession of one tribe to another.
10. 36:4 - It remains in the possession of the new tribe.
Bonus ANSWER:
Once they saw that Hashem wanted their inheritance to stay within the
tribe, they chose to marry their cousins. Of all the men of the tribe,
they were the closest to being the father's heirs.
Sforno
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